Emma Bucalo with Ava Morin
Glen Ridge High School, class of 2025, held its commencement Wednesday evening, June 18. A chance of showers relocated the event to the Ridgewood Avenue School, but what was lost in the Hurrell Field tradition was made up by a definite increase in volume for the applause and cheers in the closed confines of an auditorium. One hundred and forty-two seniors were listed in the program.
The graduates entered in pairs, occasionally in trios, parted, walked down separate aisles and reunited on stage for brief “performances,” giving high-fives, dancing around each other or some other personal, choreographed moves. One pair blew noisemakers in each others’ faces. Two girls smacked each other with their bouquets.
Class President Margaret Renee de la Fuente provided the welcome. She said the day was one of thank yous to parents and teachers, but the most important
thank yous were to the classmates surrounding each of them. Because of its small size, she said, no student is forgotten in Glen Ridge.
“The town support system doesn’t end today,” Renee said.
Cameron Atkinson was the student-chosen class speaker.
“We’ve all had our battles,” he said. “Maybe they weren’t visible, but they mattered. You made it, not because of everything going according to plan, but you didn’t stop when it didn’t.”
Superintendent of Schools Kyle Arlington addressed the students. He said every generation gets labeled, gets reduced to a stereotype, but he has seen how this graduating class shows up for each other, how deeply they care and how bravely they act.
“You are smart, yes, but you are also aware,” he said. “And aware people are dangerous in the best way: They can’t be underestimated. They can’t be easily fooled. They carry truth with them. Even when others may be spouting vitriol and different versions of their own truths.”
Arlington told the students the world needed them — not just their knowledge but their heart; not just their skills, but their ability to bring others along with them.
“We are eager for your leadership,” he continued. “And that doesn’t require a title. It doesn’t come with a follower count. It just requires a different kind of heart, the kind that shows up in real life, that listens, that lifts others, that stays present even when it’s hard.”
The valedictorian was Riley O’Sullivan; the Citizenship Cup was awarded to Connor Degnan.
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